stray
by not a straight trumpet
Summary: Reina tells Kumiko a secret she's been keeping.


**a/n:** remember that radio sketch about kumiko and reina raising a stray dog at school? i want more people to remember it. here's some fluff.

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"Kumiko." Reina's voice was hushed, panicked, and she had been squirming uncomfortably in her seat all throughout practice.

"Eh?"

"I need to talk to you. Alone." Kumiko nodded, at an utter loss for why Reina could be acting this way. Reina walked ahead at a brisk pace, every step imbued with a strange caution.

"What's this about?"

"I can't tell you that." Reina hugged herself, back hunched. She grabbed Kumiko by the arm once the two of them reached an empty classroom, nervously looking to and fro before shutting the door.

"What's this about?" Kumiko whispered. Reina looked down at the floor.

"I've been trying to hide this for as long as I could, but it's become too difficult. I'm sorry, Kumiko. I'm . . ."

"Pregnant?" Reina fixed her with a disbelieving glance that could've cut through steel.

"What? No."

"Oh." Kumiko felt the overwhelming desire to leave the room in any way possible, perhaps by jumping out the window. It would beat the awkwardness of the moment, in any case. Reina silently opened her bag, and Kumiko gasped. A reddish-brown puppy sat in a nest of what probably used to be gym shorts, sleeping peacefully.

"I found him shivering in the rain a few weeks ago, tugging at a rope someone tied to a tree. It sounded like he was crying, Kumiko. I couldn't just leave him, but my parents won't allow animals into the house, so I've been keeping him here." Kumiko tentatively reached out a hand to pet the dog.

"Can I?" Reina nodded. "He's soft."

"I don't know what I'm going to do with him. The pound would most likely end up treating him badly, so that's a no, but he's growing bigger every day. I can't keep him a secret forever, but I was wondering if you could take him."

"The apartment building won't let us keep pets."

"Dammit." Reina scratched the puppy behind the ears. "If I start asking around, people will wonder how long I've been keeping him here, and it could go badly, so I can't say anything about that, either."

"What's his name?"

"I haven't picked one yet." The puppy opened one eye, letting out an indignant _morf_ when he realized that two people were petting him.

"Hmm . . ." Kumiko held a hand to her chin in thought as the puppy scrambled out of the bag and fell to the tile floor with a _thud._ "How about Rebutia? It's a kind of cactus."

"Rebutia. I like it." Reina looked out the window. "It's getting late. We should head home before it gets dark."

"What're you going to do with him?" Kumiko pointed to the newly named Rebutia, who had started to sniff her bag curiously. "I mean, where do you leave him at night?"

"I've been keeping him in the instrument storage. I'm always the last one to close up, there, so I know that nobody's going to find him there. I'll get some crackers from the vending machine, you can lead him in there."

"Should I j-just . . . pick him up, then?"

"He'll probably follow you around if you have food in your bag." True to Reina's word, Rebutia scampered at Kumiko's heel as soon as she stood up, heading in the direction of the instrument storage.

"What a sweetie," Kumiko cooed, petting Rebutia again as they approached the door. Reina returned a few minutes later with a bag of crackers in her arms, unceremoniously opening it and dumping it on the room's floor. "Won't someone notice the crumbs?"

"I doubt it." Rebutia had already started snatching up the crackers, greedily licking the floor clean of anything that was left. "Now, while he's distracted."

"Eh?" Reina slammed the door without another word.

"He'd have escaped again, otherwise."

"Oh." Kumiko was silent for a moment. Rebutia seemed to have noticed the sudden disappearance of his human companions, and Kumiko could hear him scratching at the door, a pitiful whimpering noise made loud and clear. "He'll be okay, right?"

"We'll visit him first thing tomorrow morning. That's why I've been going to school so early - I can stuff him into my bag without much attention."

"I'm still surprised that you're doing this, Reina." Reina tilted her head curiously.

"Why?"

"I mean, you've already got so much . . . y'know, all of your goals and stuff, the trumpet and classes, I'm surprised you're so dedicated to this dog."

"What kind of person would I be if I left something so young and vulnerable out in the cold?" Reina had started to walk back down the hallway, and Kumiko followed her. "He's just a puppy, he needs someone to nurture him, to teach him everything important and make him feel loved."

"You're talking like you're his mom."

"Who's to say I'm not?" Kumiko noticed the sun dipping below the horizon from the windows. "I'm raising him, aren't I? So are you, now."

"We're both his moms, then?" Reina stopped in her tracks, and Kumiko nearly bumped into her before jumping back.

"I suppose we are." Reina took Kumiko's hand into her own, warm and soft and still smelling a bit like wet dog. "If that's alright with you, of course." Kumiko nodded.

"I'd be honored to be Rebutia's mom, Reina." The two girls stared into each other's eyes for a moment before they both burst into laughter.

"Now, now, Kumiko, we should head home before it's too late. We wouldn't want to set a bad example for our son, would we?"

"We wouldn't." Kumiko linked her arm through Reina's, and the two walked home with smiles on their faces.

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 **a/n:** a family can be two lesbians and a puppy


End file.
